Reading Kevin Mills opinion on the Abbotsford election results makes one thing clear – why he is not reporting on financial matters.

“Council also stated that any overruns would be paid for through reserves.” No council swore up and down that the $85 million was all the projects would cost and that the contracts would be written to guarantee that the cost did not go over $85 million.

It was not until council was caught playing fast and loose with costs they were aware of but concealed that talk turned to those costs and any overruns (despite council swearing there would be no such overruns) being covered out of reserves.

Mr. Mills apparently shares the councillor’s view that reserves magically appear, as opposed to the financial reality that reserves also come out of taxpayer’s pockets.

Mr. Mills is certainly entitled to be happy with the fact we got no federal funding because council did not bother to ask the federal government for funding and that we did not get any provincial funds because they did not bother to contact our local MLAs and the province in a timely matter.

However, Mr. Mills has no right to deny other taxpayers the right to be angry about the mismanagement and being stuck paying the extra $$$ tens of millions.

Mr. Mills further demonstrates his lack of logic and attention to detail with his statement “I see a trend here!” in reference to Christine Caldwell not being re-elected because of writing a letter opposing Plan A. If, as Mr. Mills implies, voters were so supportive of Plan A as to be punishing those who were not mindless supporters, how was it that Mr. Gill who voted against the budget in opposing Plan A got re-elected?

Mr. Mills crowning piece of illogic is his assertion that opposition to Plan A was a desire “… to move backwards instead of forwards…”. To anyone who takes the time to review the positions and statements made by myself and others who opposed Plan A it was not a matter of moving backwards but of how we move forwards.

Mr. Mills evidently does not grasp the concepts that taxpayers should have control of the design of capital projects; of the need for priorities that include not just entertainment projects but the nitty-gritty capital projects such as sewer and water on which a big city runs; that good fiscal management of a big city includes making the effort to exhaust all funding possibilities to reduce the tax burden imposed on citizens; or that having become a big city capital projects should be part of a long term infrastructure development plan – not a rushed and hastily thrown together massive expenditure of taxpayers funds.

In extolling all these new and wonderful buildings Mr. Mills ignores the consequences that paying for these buildings are going to have on the city and taxpayers personally, especially in light of the harsh economic reality that is emerging around the world as the bill for years of living beyond our means on borrowed money comes due.

The one point Mr. Mills was correct on is that, as is always the case, the future will reveal what the results and consequences of Plan A are and so enable us to judge what actions should (or should not) have been taken.

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By Kevin Mills – Abbotsford News November 17

As I sat at my computer, waiting impatiently for the City of Abbotsford to post the results of Saturday night’s municipal election, I started to wonder if all those letter writers would be right.
Anyone who reads the letters to the editor on a regular basis will remember all the protests and gnashing of teeth surrounding the Plan A projects. It’s still going on.
Letter writers, who in a previous column I dubbed the vocal minority, yelled out that voters would make city council pay for these projects and tax hikes – that apparently nobody wanted.
Of course you have to ignore the fact that we, the voting public, said yes to the projects in a referendum. We agreed to let the city borrow $85 million for the projects. Council also stated that any overruns would be paid for through reserves. If you go to the museum archives and read the stories in The News, you may discover that the city has said that repeatedly.
But I digress.
Despite a vote in favour of Plan A, the vocal minority raised their voices in anguish and declared an ultimatum. Many stated, in print, that voters would make the council pay by getting rid of them and voting in new councillors. Yes, the public would have its revenge.
Late Saturday night, when the results finally came in, voters had re-elected six of the seven incumbent councillors who ran for office.
Let me say that in a simple way so no one misunderstands. The seven people who ran for office were already on council when Plan A was approved.
Abbotsford voters re-elected six of them, giving them a vote of confidence for what they have been doing for the past three years.
I guess the vocal minority really showed them.
The only incumbent candidate who didn’t get re-elected was Christine Caldwell, who just before the final Plan A vote, before leaving on vacation, wrote a letter stating she had partially changed her mind on Plan A and was against the arena.
So voters got rid of a councillor who was against the largest part of Plan A.
I see a trend here!
Our new mayor, George Peary, has stated in The News that he believes council was correct for supporting and approving Plan A – and he won in a landslide.
It’s time for a reality check people. The city is changing and the majority of voters want an arts centre, they want a better recreation centre, they want a sports complex!
Abbotsford is a city on the grow and this election proves, that despite the naysayers, despite those who want to move backwards instead of forwards, despite the always vocal minority, we are a big city now.
Abbotsford’s future looks brighter than ever – a new hospital, a new university, an arts centre, a huge recreation centre and a soon-to-be-open sports complex. I can’t wait to see what the future brings.
Whatever it is, it will be nothing to complain about!